Tuesday, 30 December 2014

I'm definitely one of those that struggle with not looking like a gigantic furry blob when wearing a big furry coat but, y'know what? sometimes... I just couldn't care less. Sometimes it's not about desperately trying to suck in my Christmas belly and making excuses for my festive rolls.. sometimes it's okay to just embrace the blobness and whack on a hug coat. Okay then.

Anyway, I digress.

So when this coat first came into store.. I kinda.. well.. I didn't love it.. lets just say that. However, days went by, brushing past the coat, lovingly placing it back on its hanger... slowly it made it's way onto the mannequins and then onto my body.. as has most of Topshop.

I took a little (a lot) of inspiration from the lovely Megan from Pages By Megan in THIS instagram picture.

I obviously don't look effortlessly cool and insanely beaut in the way that she (always) does, but.. she taught me that it was more than okay to wear a fur bomber.. and for that I am glad.

I'm wearing it here with a vintage shirt that I picked up at a vintage fair in Birmingham quite a few months back. It looks best when tied round the waist into a cute little crop but, not really the weather is it guys?

Topshop Coat & Jeans, Vintage Shirt, Adidas Gazelles

I also somehow managed to find time to film a bit of an Autumn Winter lookbook ( with a tonne of help from the beloved boy, mwah!) it's got a couple of NYE appropriate items in there, along with some staple winter threads, let me know what you think!

Wednesday, 24 December 2014

I'm not trying to put a dampener on your Christmas spirit, or be all 'bah humbug' over here, but, I think it's important to think about how others might be feeling at this time of year too.

It's natural that at Christmas we think of those we've lost, those we never had, and those we can't quite seem to turn ourselves into and d'you know what?

It's hard.

Its So.Damn.Hard for some to get through this time of year. Sure it's great to be festive and surrounded by those you love but some people don't have the luxury of that, some don't even have a bed to sleep in at night.

I guess I just wanted to say, that it's awesome to feel so thankful of those people that we do have in our lives, or that living situation that we're so comfortable in, or that job that we're totally bossing even if we're only pretending to know what we're doing.. but...it would also be awesome if you know of anyone that's struggling right now and you give them a call, drop round and see them, or invite them over for an hour or two.. you never know how much a small act of kindness can effect somebody's outlook on life.

If you're one of those who's finding it hard right now, perhaps you can't see a way out? I'm here to tell you that you're gonna make it through. There's always people around even if you feel like there's no-one and you've got it in you to turn this around. If you wanna chat, there will be people to listen (like me!) and if you don't feel like there is, then give the Samaritans a call on 08457 90 90 90. Making that call can be the first step to acknowledging whatever is troubling you and it could make the next few days, weeks, who knows.. even years, that little bit easier.

Wednesday, 17 December 2014

I've always thought that the key to 'double denim' was to rock two completely opposing shades.. so it doesn't seem like you're trying to be all 'matchy matchy'.

I still think that, however, somewhere along the line of me getting ready for work one morning, that didn't quite go to plan...

Firstly, we have to consider that I'm getting ready at like 6am.. which if you haven't seen that side of the morning in a while, is pretty much pitch black this time of year. So point one: it's hard for me to see. (Yes I know I can put the light on but it's still pretty hard to fully open my eyes at that time in the morning so...)

I also felt a little.. I don't know how to say this without sounding like a moody teenager but, 'not bovved' in the slightest. Sometimes I think that attitude is a little necessary to pull of an outfit that otherwise you'd be a little unsure of.

I'm wearing all of the denimz with a new -flinch- blouse.. that I bought from work. Did I tell you I've handed my notice in and am planning to move to the big city come January? (yeah.. help?)

I've applied for a job in an office ( more deets if I actually get the job!) and felt like my usual ripped jeans and slouchy jumper might not pass in such a place.. so.. it's good to be prepared right! I thought I'd get use out of said blouse in a more typicAlly way as i might not end up in the office after all and it's good to try and wear things in different ways, right? It's more than a little low cut and I've seen others wear a little strappy top underneath to help keep some of their dignity but for me - on this day - I pretty much didn't notice until I was at work and by that point, my 'risque' attire was with me for the day so - might as well act like it's deliberate right? A way to get the customers in?

Shame on me.

Topshop Hat, Jacket, Blouse, Jeans. Nike Air Max 90's

The hat is also a purchase from work that genuinely came about because it was so incredibly cold that I couldn't work any longer without wool around my ears. The doors are broke so they're constantly open and I've had the flu for what feels like a million years so it was a vital purchase. 'Cover up your chest' I can hear you yell... and well yes that's a very good point, didn't think I could get away with wearing a scarf too unfortunately.

For some reason, I've found that this December has gone faster than most, but not in a jolly, festive, 'I'm so happy it's Christmas' kinda way, more of the stressful, busy, 'I'm so totally unprepared for Christmas' kinda way.

I've been stressed to say the least, and haven't felt able to focus on my photography and had been feeling a little 'bleh'. So, when PrintsOn got in touch wanting to send me a sample of one of their prints, I just had to say YES. And what a perfect little 'uplifter' it was.

If you're unfamiliar with them, they're a printing company that print your images onto various materials such as acrylic, slate, and metal and I was given the option to pick one of these materials and send over an image that I wanted printed.

Initially I had a pretty hard time deciding what image to send.. do I send a photo of me and my boyfriend? my dog? a nice sky or landscape? I finally settled on an image I took of the old pier in Brighton ( my all time fave place - which you'll know by now if you're familiar round these ends)

I chose to have it printed on acrylic because I just love how clean and vibrant this can make the images and I just thought that the sea and the sky would look beaut - and they so totally do.

Because they're babes over at PrintsOn, they also sent me a smaller size of my image printed onto metal! It has a small 'screw in' metal rod which helps the image stand which I think is a super slick way of sorting that whole standing up image shebang and the acrylic print has a clever little fixing device on the back in the form of two beveled pieces of 'foamboard?' - one attached to the print and one that you attach to the wall - which slot together seamlessly for a super professional wall mounting. I haven't hung it up on my wall yet cause my room's a mess and I'm saving it for when I move out.

My thought process goes as follows: Brighton's so sick and calming that if I have this beautiful image up in a new place it''l instantly make me feel comforted just by looking at it.

-Here's hoping anyway-

My images really don't do the prints justice, turns out its hard to take photographs of something so reflective without getting your own face, or someone else, or the sofa or the lights or cushions or BLEUGH in the photo also, so bear that in mind!

So there you have it, I think it's a great gift idea, especially at this time of year, or maybe it'd be nice to get one of your Christmas snaps printed all profesh?

As for me, I'll be 'accidentally on purpose' avoiding as many snaps as I can.. y'see.. I can pretty much guarantee that I've put on about fifty stone within the past few weeks and I can put that solely down to my boyfriend's dad's homemade mince pies. What else am I to do when I'm welcomed into the kitchen with a new batch baked almost every other day?

Embarrassingly enough, I think he's only making them so often because I'm eating so many of them that there's never any left for anyone else. Oops!

How has December being going for you?
Have you been snacking (or gorging) on any festive treats?

Tis' the season n everything!

x

*The products in this post were sent to me for review (mince pies not included) but all views and opinions are completely my own.

Sunday, 14 December 2014

About a month ago I was lucky enough to get an invite to the Primark Spring 15 Press event. I literally counted down the days until that moment last week where I got to sip cocktails, eat cheese, chat to some of the loveliest ladies all whilst browsing the undeniably impressive collections that I am reliably informed will be hitting down in stores in February ( put this in your diaries ladies, you can thank me later)

Admittedly, I felt a little weird heading over to a spring/summer press event whilst being covered in fur and struggling to keep warm and I did think that I might find it a little hard to - I don't know - get into the summer mindset? Especially as I love A/W so much.

I was wrong though guys.

I was very wrong.

All of the clothes were displayed within their own mini collections, each having varying styles and colour palettes and I don't think there was one that I didn't love! I was completely blown away by the quality of the items and then even more blown away when I saw the miniscule accompanying prices. One of my faves was probably a burgandy suit - which the absolutely lovely Anna held up for me - you'll see if you keep scrolling... coming in at under £35! For the jacket AND the trousers. It's like I'm in clothes heaven and for once, by bank balance will be too!

We were given some copper disks to place near or on the items that we loved so that the guys at Primark could see what we loved the most. Great idea right! Well me and the lovely Hailea from dirtydiscovintage managed to drop all of our copper rings on the floor on separate occasions. It was great to meet someone as clumsy as myself!

Did I mention the cheese?

Okay good.

Cause I just wanted to get that across.. kinda feel like it was an important thing not to miss out.

Another important and equally if not a little more exciting thing that we were able to get our grubby mitts on (Maybe it was just me covered in brie but you get the idea) was the pick 'n' mix makeup bar which you will have had a sneak peek of if you follow me over on instagram.

I picked up quite a few items that I'm really excited to try out so check back in the next few weeks for a review on the stuff I picked up!

Last but not least, I can't even get over the shoes (as per). Upon walking down some stairs into the warehouse that the event was held in (such an awesome location by the way) we were greeted by a wall of shoes. Yup, there was loads, and as you can imagine.. I hung around in that area for quite a while! My faves are probably the white ones you can see below.. or maybe the black ones with the cleated sole.. AHH I just can't choose, but I've surprised myself by being excited for spring/summer shoes already!

Their homeware section was a beaut as always too! I didn't manage to get any photo's but did film a little whilst I was attempting to vlog, so we'll see if those videos appear anywhere or not but I'll be sure to let you know if they do! I'd planned to vlog my trip to London as I was down there for a job interview and another event too! (More to come on that in a catch-up post soon but the long and short of it is that I'm planning to make the move to the big city in January! Plenty of home haul posts coming your way I would imagine!)

What do you think of the collections?

Are they making you excited for Spring?

I'd also like to thank you all for popping by, and thank all of the wonderful people at Primark for having me at the event. It really was such a sick evening and to think that this little blog has given me this opportunity is insane in the best way.

Friday, 5 December 2014

So I've been on a bit (read: lot) of a beauty binge recently. The best kind no?

I've picked up an array of drugstore products which you'll see popping up soon over on my youtube channel, but I've also invested in a couple of more high end products.. cause well : Christmas.

Bobbi Brown | Old Holywood Eye Pallette

Could this palette be any more beautiful? (Answer:No)

It's a perfect combination of shimmers and mattes all with equally impressive colour payoff. The mattes make a great base for a smokey eye and the shimmers add that little something extra. Having said that, I don't feel too dolled up with the shimmers all over the lid, they're still very wearable in the day! I picked this palette partly because of how beautiful it is(obvs) but also because of the super wearable colours. I've already got a lot of use out of this badboy and I expect this to be one of my faves - especially over the festive period!

Bobbi Brown | Long-wear Cream Shadow Stick in Golden Bronze

Now then this sleek little shadow stick is a bit of a game-changer for me. I've always been a little, I don't know.. against shadow sticks? I know, it's weird.. but hear me out. The whole, awkwardly thick formula, creasing after five minutes nightmare has just always stuck solidly in my mind. It has recently come to my attention that I was clearly just using the wrong formula. I gave in to the hype purely because they're everywhere at the moment. (I know, I'm like the textbook consumer) Laura Mercier for one has some absolutely beautiful shades. Anyway, back to the situation in hand. I've been completely won over by this product, not only because of it's perfect resting point in between bronze and gold, but the formula is rich and creamy, lasts all day and doesn't crease.. and as if that wasn't enough, it takes all of about five seconds to apply. Swoon.

Mac | 217 Makeup Brush

Okay so I already know what you're all thinking. You've all already got like ten of these, have been using them for years and this small staple item in your makeup stash is something that you assume everybody else also already owns ten of. Well, you're probably 98% right. However I'm open to admitting that I was one of those people that must be stupid or walking round with my eyes shut because up until now I have never owned a Mac 217 brush.

I know.

What a sin.

I'm happy to report that giving in to the hype in this case has proved to be one of the best decisions I've made. (Okay, maybe not ever, but certainly best makeup brush decision I've ever made.)

I'm sure you all know the deal by now but for the minority of you that don't (Nope? Just me then?) this brush basically makes you're life better. It's soft bristles glide effortlessly over the crease blending out various eyeshadow formulas for a professional and non-5 year old wearing eyeshadow for the first time-look. It literally takes seconds, and I haven't looked back since.